Freedom in Ancient Greek Literature

Paper Summary:

The period covered by the term 'Ancient Greece' is a long one, encompassing the Mycenaean period and the subsequent so-called 'Dark Age' (c.1600-900 B.C.), the Archaic Period (c.900-480 B.C.), the Classical period (c.480-323 B.C.) and the Hellenistic period (c. 323-146 B.C.). This essay discusses the Mycenaean, Archaic and Classical periods, using the literature of some of the richest cultural epochs in Ancient Greek history to illuminate questions of freedom in the society of Greece during that time. Works examined include Homer's "The Iliad" and "Hymn to Demeter", Socrates' "Apology" and Sappho's "Hymn to Aphrodite".

From the Paper:

"Socrates was a man; no woman could have been brought before a court to face the charges he faced because no woman had the freedom to travel, to question, and to speak in public. Women were perhaps the largest class of the Ancient Greek population to be excluded from the exercise of many of the freedoms we would recognize as important today: political participation, ownership of property and wealth, pursuit of education and careers. Women in the classical period were restricted in their free choice of marriage partners; any dowry was effectively the property of the husband, denying the woman financial independence (Sealey, 67, 77); these restrictions were less evident by the later Hellenistic period, in which women possessed more freedom in their personal lives and control of their own financial affairs (Sealey, 94)."

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